Device, system, and method to quit smoking

ABSTRACT

A non-transitory computer-readable computer medium stores instructions for a patient attempting to quit smoking. The instructions cause a computer to: obtain smoking cessation-related health-care history information of the patient updated by the patient attempting to quit smoking; determine, based on the smoking cessation-related health-care history information, a cognitive-behavioral therapy to be performed, to obtain patient&#39;s understanding information about smoking related to the cognitive-behavioral therapy; when a request timing comes, transmit to a patient-side electronic device a patient&#39;s understanding information request; receive, from the patient-side electronic device, the patient&#39;s understanding information about smoking; determine, by comparing the received patient&#39;s understanding information with predetermined correct response information about smoking, whether the patient has a correct patient&#39;s understanding about smoking; and when the patient&#39;s understanding about smoking is incorrect, transmit, to the patient-side electronic device, cognitive-behavioral therapy information based on the predetermined correct response information.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a device, a system and a method for apatient who is attempting to quit smoking.

BACKGROUND ART

It is not always easy for a person who has continued to smoke to kickthe smoking habit. A nicotine-dependent state caused by continuoussmoking is classified into two states: physical dependence; andpsychological dependence. Generally, for the physical nicotinedependence, a drug or pharmacological therapy using a smoking-cessationaid such as varenicline or nicotine preparation is performed, and, forthe psychological nicotine dependence, a behavioral therapy,cognitive-behavioral therapy and coaching by a health professional areperformed. The behavioral therapy means a therapeutic procedure in whicha health professional prompts a patient to practice a behavior(therapeutic behavior) which is expected to produce a therapeutic effectwhen implemented. Among various types of behavioral therapies, atherapeutic procedure in which, when a smoking urge, i.e., an urge tosmoke, occurs, a certain action other than a smoking action is performedto thereby avoid a smoking action, is referred to as “substitutebehavioral therapy”. The cognitive-behavioral therapy means atherapeutic procedure in which a gap between patient's understanding(cognition) and a fact from a scientific standpoint (a gap in cognition)is corrected to thereby make a patient's behavioral change. The coachingmeans providing to a patient knowledge pertaining to diseases to therebyeducate, encourage or praise the patient.

In the following Prior Art Document 1, there is proposed a system fortransmitting every day a message for supporting an individual person whowishes to improve health-related behavior such as smoking cessation,body weight control or stress management.

CITATION LIST Patent Document

Patent Document 1: JP 2001-092876 A

As to a result of therapy using varenicline, although a 3-month smokingcessation success rate is about 65%, many persons will restart smoking,and consequently a one-year smoking cessation success rate is only about35%. Persons who successfully stop smoking once by a pharmacologicaltherapy will restart smoking at a high rate. This is probably becausepsychological dependence has not been resolved. Psychological dependenceis a mental disorder, and requires daily detailed supports by a healthprofessional or the like. However, a health professional can be involvedonly at each outpatient visit. There are often the cases where the totalnumber, frequency, period, etc., of outpatient services which can betaken within health-care services covered by health insurance arelimited. For example, in Japan, the number of outpatient services whichcan be taken within health-care services covered by health insurance isonly five, and the frequency of the outpatient services is about onetime two weeks to one month. Thus, the entire therapy will be terminatedwithin about three months. Moreover, outpatient service hours are alsolimited, so that it is often the case that, even when a patient who isattempting to quit smoking decides to consult a medical doctor, it isnecessary to take long time until he/she sees a medical doctor, becausehe/she has to go to a hospital. After the outpatient service hours, itis impossible to consult a medical doctor in the first place. As above,a time usable for smoking cessation coaching by a health professional isextremely limited, and a patient with nicotine dependence cannot consulta health professional when he/she wishes to do so, and it is difficultto receive smoking cessation therapy over a long period of time.Further, quality in smoking cessation coaching varies depending onmedical institutions or health professionals.

The system disclosed in the Prior Art Document 1 is configured toprovide on a day-to-day basis a behavior modification message forimproving health-related bad behavior, based on data collected from anindividual person. The use of this system enables a patient to receivethe behavior modification message once a day, so that the patient canunderstand a behavior to be taken on the day. However, it is impossibleto finely tune a therapy to be implemented, depending on patient'ssmoking cessation therapeutic situation which varies from hour to hour.Moreover, for a patient who is attempting to quit smoking and ispsychologically dependent on smoking, like psychological nicotinedependence, the behavior modification message to be transmitted once aday is not enough, i.e., fails to timely implement a therapy suitablefor a patient's psychological state on a moment-to-moment basis.Further, it is impossible to solve the problem that a patient cannotconsult a medical doctor when he/she wishes to do so.

Technical Advantages

One or more embodiments of the present invention can provide one or moreof the following technical advantages that, when executed by a computeror computer system, improve the functionality of the computer systemover conventional technology. According to a first aspect of the presentinvention, there is provided a program executable by a computer designedto be used for a patient who is attempting to quit smoking. The programis configured to cause the computer to execute the steps of: receiving,from a patient-side electronic device which is an electronic device usedby the patient, patient's understanding information input into thepatient-side electronic device by the patient and indicative ofunderstanding of the patient about a given smoking-related matter, at apatient's understanding information acquisition timing decided based onat least one of an input of information indicative of a currentcondition of the patient, and smoking cessation-related health-carehistory information of the patient; deciding, based on the receivedpatient's understanding information and correct response informationabout the smoking-related matter, whether or not the patient'sunderstanding about the smoking-related matter is incorrect; and, whenthe patient's understanding is decided to be incorrect, transmittingcognitive-behavioral therapy information based on the correct responseinformation to the patient-side electronic device, wherein thecognitive-behavioral therapy information includes information for thepatient which is deemed to be correct with respect to thesmoking-related matter.

The program according to the first aspect of the present invention isconfigured to cause the computer to further execute the steps of:reading the smoking cessation-related health-care history informationfrom a database; based on the received smoking cessation-relatedhealth-care history information, deciding a request timing of requestingthe patient-side electronic device to transmit the patient'sunderstanding information including the patient's understanding aboutthe given smoking-related matter; and at the request timing,transmitting, to the patient-side electronic device, a patient'sunderstanding information request for requesting transmission of thepatient's understanding information including the patient'sunderstanding about the given smoking-related matter, wherein thepatient's understanding information acquisition timing is a timing ofreceiving the patient's understanding information as a response to thepatient's understanding information request.

In the program according to the first aspect of the present invention,the patient's understanding information acquisition timing is decidedbased on a timing at which information indicative of a current conditionof the patient is input into the patient-side electronic device, whereinthe program is configured to cause the computer to further execute thestep of, at a condition information acquisition timing decided based onthe timing at which information indicative of a current condition of thepatient is input into the patient-side electronic device, acquiring theinformation indicative of a current condition of the patient, andwherein the patient's understanding information includes informationindicative of an association between the current condition of thepatient and smoking, estimated by the patient.

The above program is configured to cause the computer to further executethe step of, at a first behavioral therapy implementation timing decidedbased on the timing at which the information indicative of the currentcondition of the patient is input into the patient-side electronicdevice, transmitting first behavioral therapy information based on theinformation indicative of the current condition of the patient, whereinthe first behavioral therapy information is indicative of a behavior tobe taken by the patient in connection with the current condition of thepatient.

The information indicative of the current condition of the patient mayinclude a cause of the current condition of the patient estimated by thepatient.

The above program is configured to cause the computer to further executethe steps of: after transmitting the first behavioral therapyinformation, transmitting effect-related inquiry information indicativeof a message for inquiring about whether or not the condition isimproved; in response to the effect-related inquiry information,receiving effect-related response information indicative of a responseinput by the patient; and when the effect-related response informationindicates that the condition is not improved, transmitting secondbehavioral therapy information indicative of a behavior to be taken bythe patient in connection with the condition.

The step of transmitting cognitive-behavioral therapy information may beexecuted after execution of the step of transmitting the firstbehavioral therapy information.

The above program is configured to cause the computer to further executethe step of, at a coaching timing decided based on the timing at whichthe information indicative of the current condition of the patient isinput into the patient-side electronic device, transmitting coachinginformation indicative of a massage for encouraging the patient inconnection with the condition of the patient.

The step of transmitting cognitive-behavioral therapy information may beexecuted after execution of the step of transmitting the coachinginformation.

The program according to the first aspect of the present invention isconfigured to cause the computer to further execute the steps of: basedon at least one of an input of information indicative of a currentcondition of the patient, and the smoking cessation-related health-carehistory information of the patient, deciding a second behavioral therapyimplementation timing, and deciding third behavioral therapy informationindicative of a behavior to be taken by the patient for the purpose ofsmoking cessation therapy; at the second behavioral therapyimplementation timing, transmitting the third behavioral therapyinformation to the patient-side electronic device; and updating thesmoking cessation-related health-care history information, based on atleast one of the cognitive-behavioral therapy information and the thirdbehavioral therapy information.

The program according to the first aspect of the present invention isconfigured to cause the computer to further execute the steps of: aftertransmitting the cognitive-behavioral therapy information, updating thesmoking cessation-related health-care history information, based on thepatient's understanding information and the cognitive-behavioral therapyinformation; and based on the updated smoking cessation-relatedhealth-care history information, transmitting information aboutmedication adjustment, to at least one of a doctor-side electronicdevice used by a medical doctor and the patient-side electronic device.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provideda computer-readable recording medium storing therein the programaccording to the first aspect of the present invention.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provideda computer comprising a processing unit, a communication unit, and astorage unit storing therein a program designed to be used for a patientwho is attempting to quit smoking, wherein the program is configured tocause the computer to execute the steps of: receiving, from apatient-side electronic device which is an electronic device used by thepatient, patient's understanding information input into the patient-sideelectronic device by the patient and indicative of understanding of thepatient about a smoking-related matter, at a patient's understandinginformation acquisition timing decided based on at least one of an inputof information indicative of a current condition of the patient, andsmoking cessation-related health-care history information of thepatient; deciding, based on the received patient's understandinginformation and correct response information about the smoking-relatedmatter, whether or not the patient's understanding about thesmoking-related matter is incorrect; and when the patient'sunderstanding is decided to be incorrect, transmittingcognitive-behavioral therapy information based on the correct responseinformation to the patient-side electronic device, wherein thecognitive-behavioral therapy information includes information for thepatient which is deemed to be correct with respect to thesmoking-related matter.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provideda computer designed to be used for a patient who is attempting to quitsmoking. The computer comprises: a communication section operable toreceive, from a patient-side electronic device which is an electronicdevice used by the patient, patient's understanding information inputinto the patient-side electronic device by the patient and indicative ofunderstanding of the patient about a smoking-related matter, at apatient's understanding information acquisition timing decided based onat least one of an input of information indicative of a currentcondition of the patient, and smoking cessation-related health-carehistory information of the patient, and, when the patient'sunderstanding is decided to be incorrect, to transmitcognitive-behavioral therapy information based on correct responseinformation about the smoking-related matter to the patient-sideelectronic device, the cognitive-behavioral therapy informationincluding information for the patient which is deemed to be correct withrespect to the smoking-related matter; and a control section operable todecide, based on the received patient's understanding information andthe correct response information, whether or not the patient'sunderstanding about the smoking-related matter is incorrect.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provideda program executable by an electronic device designed to be used for apatient who is attempting to quit smoking. The program is configured tocause the electronic device used by the patient to execute the steps of:accepting an input of patient's understanding information indicative ofunderstanding of the patient about a smoking-related matter, at apatient's understanding information acquisition timing decided based onat least one of an input of information indicative of a currentcondition of the patient, and smoking cessation-related health-carehistory information of the patient; transmitting the input patient'sunderstanding information to a server; when the patient's understandingis decided to be incorrect, receiving, from the server,cognitive-behavioral therapy information including information for thepatient indicative of information deemed to be correct with respect tothe smoking-related matter; and based on the receivedcognitive-behavioral therapy information, presenting the informationdeemed to be correct with respect to the smoking-related matter, to thepatient.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provideda patient-side electronic device designed to be used for a patient whois attempting to quit smoking. The electronic device comprises aprocessing unit, a communication unit, an output unit, and a storageunit storing therein a program designed to be used for a patient who isattempting to quit smoking, wherein the program is configured to causethe electronic device to execute the steps of: accepting an input ofpatient's understanding information indicative of understanding of thepatient about a smoking-related matter, at a patient's understandinginformation acquisition timing decided based on at least one of an inputof information indicative of a current condition of the patient, andsmoking cessation-related health-care history information of thepatient; transmitting the input patient's understanding information to aserver; when the patient's understanding is decided to be incorrect,receiving, from the server, cognitive-behavioral therapy informationincluding information for the patient indicative of information deemedto be correct with respect to the smoking-related matter; and based onthe received cognitive-behavioral therapy information, presenting theinformation deemed to be correct with respect to the smoking-relatedmatter, to the patient.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a patient-side electronic device designed to be used for apatient who is attempting to quit smoking. The electronic devicecomprises: an input section operable to accept an input of patient'sunderstanding information indicative of understanding of the patientabout a smoking-related matter, at a patient's understanding informationacquisition timing decided based on at least one of an input ofinformation indicative of a current condition of the patient, andsmoking cessation-related health-care history information of thepatient; a communication section operable to transmit the inputpatient's understanding information to a server, and, when the patient'sunderstanding is decided to be incorrect, to receive, from the server,cognitive-behavioral therapy information including information for thepatient indicative of information deemed to be correct with respect tothe smoking-related matter; and an output section operable, based on thereceived cognitive-behavioral therapy information, to present theinformation deemed to be correct with respect to the smoking-relatedmatter, to the patient.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a system designed to be used for a patient who is attempting toquit smoking. The system comprises: a server composed of the computeraccording to the third or fourth aspect of the present invention; atleast one electronic device used by the patient, composed of theelectronic device according to the sixth or seventh aspect of thepresent invention; and a database storing therein the smokingcessation-related health-care history information of the patient.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provideda method designed to be used for a patient who is attempting to quitsmoking. The method comprises causing a computer to execute the stepsof: receiving, from a patient-side electronic device which is anelectronic device used by the patient, patient's understandinginformation input into the patient-side electronic device by the patientand indicative of understanding of the patient about a givensmoking-related matter, at a patient's understanding informationacquisition timing decided based on at least one of an input ofinformation indicative of a current condition of the patient, andsmoking cessation-related health-care history information of thepatient; deciding, based on the received patient's understandinginformation and correct response information about the smoking-relatedmatter, whether or not the patient's understanding about thesmoking-related matter is incorrect; and when the patient'sunderstanding is decided to be incorrect, transmittingcognitive-behavioral therapy information based on the correct responseinformation to the patient-side electronic device, wherein thecognitive-behavioral therapy information includes information for thepatient which is deemed to be correct with respect to thesmoking-related matter.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, there is provideda method designed to be used for a patient who is attempting to quitsmoking. The method comprises causing an electronic device to executethe steps of: accepting an input of patient's understanding informationindicative of understanding of the patient about a smoking-relatedmatter, at a patient's understanding information acquisition timingdecided based on at least one of an input of information indicative of acurrent condition of the patient, and smoking cessation-relatedhealth-care history information of the patient; transmitting the inputpatient's understanding information to a server; when the patient'sunderstanding is decided to be incorrect, receiving, from the server,cognitive-behavioral therapy information including information for thepatient indicative of information deemed to be correct with respect tothe smoking-related matter; and based on the receivedcognitive-behavioral therapy information, presenting the informationdeemed to be correct with respect to the smoking-related matter, to thepatient.

One or more embodiments of the present invention provide an improvementover existing computer-implemented technologies by making it possible toselect an appropriate therapy and delicately change a timing ofimplementing the selected therapy, depending on patient's smokingcessation therapeutic situation which varies from hour to hour, andtimely implement a necessary therapy when needed. The patient can use anelectronic device such as his/her own smartphone to receive smokingcessation therapy daily and for a long period of time via the electronicdevice. Thus, it is possible to effectively provide therapy for apatient who is attempting to quit smoking, in particular, whopsychological depends on smoking. In addition, by setting a system so asto enable the system to select and implement an appropriate therapy, itbecomes possible to constantly realize an appropriate smoking cessationcoaching without any variation.

The patient can input information indicative of a current condition ofthe patient, such as smoking urge or withdrawal symptom, via his/her ownelectronic device. In the case where this information is used to selectand implement a therapy, the patient's understanding about thesmoking-related matter, i.e., an association between the condition andits cause, is specified, and, when the patient's understanding isincorrect, the understanding is straightened out to thereby improve thecurrent condition, and enable the patient to have correct knowledgeabout smoking. This makes it possible to correct an incorrect thinkingpattern of the patient to enable the patient to think based on correctunderstanding when the patient has the same condition. For example, itis possible to effectively prevent the occurrence of a situation wheresmoking urges occur based on incorrect understanding, resulting insmoking. Further, when a cause of the current condition can beadditionally specified, it becomes possible to implement therapyappropriate to the cause. When the current condition is smoking urge,behavioral therapy appropriate to the specified cause of the smokingurges, such as substitutive behavioral therapy, can be performed incombination with coaching to more effectively relieve smoking urges.This makes it possible to effectively prevent the occurring of asituation where a patient who is attempting to quit smoking smokes dueto temporary strong smoking urge and returns to a state before start ofthe smoking cessation therapy.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram depicting a configuration of a systemaccording to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram depicting a hardware configuration of a serverin the system according to this embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram depicting a hardware configuration of adatabase in the system according to this embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram depicting a hardware configuration of apatient-side electronic device in the system according to thisembodiment.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram depicting a hardware configuration of adoctor-side electronic device in the system according to thisembodiment.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram depicting a functional configuration of theserver in the system according to this embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram depicting a functional configuration of thedatabase in the system according to this embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram depicting a functional configuration of thepatient-side electronic device in the system according to thisembodiment.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram depicting a functional configuration of thedoctor-side electronic device in the system according to thisembodiment.

FIG. 10 is a patient information table in the system according to thisembodiment.

FIG. 11A is a therapy list in the system according to this embodiment.

FIG. 11B is a therapy list in the system according to this embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart depicting a process in a system according a firstembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart depicting the process in the system according thefirst embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart depicting the process in the system according thefirst embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart depicting the process in the system according thefirst embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart depicting the process in the system according thefirst embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart depicting a process in a system according asecond embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart depicting the process in the system according thesecond embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 depicts a configuration of a system according to one embodimentof the present invention. This system 100 is designed to be used for apatient who is attempting to quit smoking, and comprises: a server 102;a database 103; one or more patient-side electronic devices 104 (104-1to 104-N) each of which is an electronic device used by the patient; andone or more doctor-side electronic devices 105 (105-1 to 105-N) each ofwhich is an electronic device used by a doctor. In this embodiment,these components are connected to each other via a network 101.Alternatively, the system may be configured such that they are connectedto each other individually as needed basis. For example, the system maybe configured such that the database 103 is directly connected to theserver 102 without being connected to the network 101, and thepatient-side electronic devices 104-1 to 104-N and the doctor-sideelectronic devices 105-1 to 105-N are connected to the database 103 viathe server 102.

FIG. 2 depicts a hardware configuration of the server 102 in the systemaccording to this embodiment. The server 102 is a computer comprising aprocessing unit 201, a display unit 202, an input unit 203, a storageunit 204, and a communication unit 205. In this embodiment, these unitsare connected to each other via a bus 210. Alternatively, the server maybe configured such that they are connected to each other individually asneeded basis. The display unit 202 has a function of displayinginformation to a user. The input unit 203 has a function of accepting aninput from a user, like a keyboard, a mouse or the like. The storageunit 204 stores therein a server program 206. The storage unit 204 maybe any type of storage unit, such as a non-volatile memory or a volatilememory, as long as it is capable of storing information therein. Thecommunication unit 205 is operable to perform wire communication usingan Ethernet (trademark) cable or the like, or wireless communicationusing cellular network, wireless LAN or the like, to establishconnection to the network 101.

FIG. 3 depicts a hardware configuration of the database 103 in thesystem according to this embodiment. The database 103 is a computercomprising a processing unit 301, a display unit 302, an input unit 303,a storage unit 304, and a communication unit 305. In this embodiment,these units are connected to each other via a bus 310. Alternatively,the database 103 may be configured such that they are connected to eachother individually as needed basis. The display unit 302 has a functionof displaying information to a user. The input unit 303 has a functionof accepting an input from a user, like a keyboard, a mouse or the like.The storage unit 304 may be any type of storage unit, such as anon-volatile memory or a volatile memory, as long as it is capable ofstoring information therein. The storage unit 304 stores therein adatabase (DB) program 306. The communication unit 305 is operable toperform wire communication using an Ethernet (trademark) cable or thelike, or wireless communication using cellular network, wireless LAN orthe like, to establish connection to the network 101.

In this embodiment, the server 102 and the database 103 are realized bydifferent computers. Alternatively, they may be realized by a singlecomputer.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram depicting a hardware configuration of thepatient-side electronic device 104 which is an electronic device used bya patient, in the system according to this embodiment. As used herein,the term “patient” means a person who is attempting to quit smoking, butdoes not necessarily mean a person who is undergoing smoking cessationtherapy supervised by a health professional. The patient-side electronicdevice 104 comprises a processing unit 401, a display unit 402, an inputunit 403, a storage unit 404, and a communication unit 405. In thisembodiment, these units are connected to each other via a bus 410.Alternatively, the patient-side electronic device may be configured suchthat they are connected to each other individually as needed basis. Thepatient-side electronic device 104 may be composed of a desktop computeror a notebook computer, or may be a personal digital assistance, amobile phone, a smartphone or a tablet terminal, or may be a dedicatedportable electronic device. From a viewpoint of enabling a patient topromptly input his/her condition, it may be composed of a portablecommunication terminal. The display unit 402 has a function ofdisplaying information to a user. The input unit 403 has a function ofaccepting an input from a user, like a keyboard, a mouse or the like.When the patient-side electronic device 104 is composed of a smart phoneor a tablet terminal, the display unit 402 and the input unit 403 may beintegrated together as a touch panel. The storage unit 404 storestherein a patient program 406 for the patient-side electronic device.The storage unit 404 may be any type of storage unit, such as anon-volatile memory or a volatile memory, as long as it is capable ofstoring information therein. The communication unit 405 is operable toperform wire communication using an Ethernet (trademark) cable or thelike, or wireless communication using cellular network, wireless LAN orthe like, to establish connection to the network 101.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram depicting a hardware configuration of thedoctor-side electronic device 105 which is an electronic device used bya doctor, in the system according to this embodiment. The doctor-sideelectronic device 105 comprises a processing unit 501, a display unit502, an input unit 503, a storage unit 504, and a communication unit505. In this embodiment, these units are connected to each other via abus 510. Alternatively, the doctor-side electronic device may beconfigured such that they are connected to each other individually asneeded basis. The doctor-side electronic device 104 may be composed of adesktop computer or a notebook computer, or may be a personal digitalassistance, a mobile phone, a smartphone or a tablet terminal, or may bea dedicated portable electronic device. The display unit 502 has afunction of displaying information to a user. The input unit 503 has afunction of accepting an input from a user, like a keyboard, a mouse orthe like. When the doctor-side electronic device 105 is composed of asmart phone or a tablet terminal, the display unit 502 and the inputunit 503 may be integrated together as a touch panel. The storage unit504 stores therein a doctor program 506 for the doctor-side electronicdevice. The storage unit 504 may be any type of storage unit, such as anon-volatile memory or a volatile memory, as long as it is capable ofstoring information therein. The communication unit 505 is operable toperform wire communication using an Ethernet (trademark) cable or thelike, or wireless communication using cellular network, wireless LAN orthe like, to establish connection to the network 101.

FIGS. 6 to 9 depict respective functional configurations of the server102, the database 103, the patient-side electronic device 104 and thedoctor-side electronic device 105 in the system according to thisembodiment. The server 102 comprises a control section 601, a displaysection 602, an input section 603, a storage section 604 and acommunication section 605, and the database 103 comprises a controlsection 701, a display section 702, an input section 703, a storagesection 704 and a communication section 705. The patient-side electronicdevice 104 comprises a control section 801, a display section 802, aninput section 803, a storage section 804 and a communication section805, and the doctor-side electronic device 105 comprises a controlsection 901, a display section 902, an input section 903, a storagesection 904 and a communication section 905. Each of the controlsections operates to execute control such as information processing.Each of the display sections operates to display information in such amanner as to enable a user to visibly recognize the information. Each ofthe input sections operates to accept an input from a user. Each of thestorage sections operates to store therein data or the like. Each of thecommunication sections operates to transmit and receive information withrespect to other devices. In this embodiment, the above functionalsections are realized by executing the programs in the hardwaredescribed in FIGS. 2 to 5 . Alternatively, these functional sections maybe realized based on hardware by providing an electronic circuit or thelike capable of realizing the functional sections.

In this embodiment, patient information is stored in the storage section704 of the database 103. The patient information is information relatedto a patient who is attempting to quit smoking, associated withidentification (ID) number of the patient. The patient-relatedinformation includes personal information of the patient, smokingcessation-related health-care history information of the patient, etc.As used in this specification, the term “heath care” does notnecessarily mean an act performed by a health professional, but may bean act performed based on one or more embodiments of the presentinvention. In this embodiment, the patient's personal information isbasically fixed information, and the smoking cessation-relatedhealth-care history information is information which can vary from hourto hour. The patient's personal information includes information such aspatient's name, birth date, duration of smoking, starting date ofsmoking cessation therapy, and trigger for smoking. The smokingcessation-related health-care history information includes informationabout personal history of smoking cessation-related health-care, such aspatient's condition history information, smoking history information,medication history information, and therapy history information. Thepatient's condition history information is information obtained, forexample, by recording patient's conditions on a day-to-day basis, andcan be deemed as diary information. The condition history informationincludes: information about daily conditions, such as having a headache,feeling irritable, feeling good, or feeling nauseous; and a smoking-urgeindex indicative of a level of urge of smoking. The smoking-urge indexcan be represented, for example, by the numbers 0 to 5, wherein 0 meansa state in which the patient does not have any smoking urge, and 5 meansa state in which the patient most strongly has smoking urges. Thesmoking-urge index is subjectively determined, decided and input by apatient. The smoking history information includes information aboutwhether or not the patient smoked after smoking cessation therapy. Forexample, in the case where the patient smoked, the smoking historyinformation includes information about the number of smoked cigarettesand date of smoking. The medication history information includesinformation about an amount of medication taken for smoking cessationtherapy and date of the medication. The therapy history informationincludes history information about a therapy implemented for thepatient, such as a cognitive-behavioral therapy implemented by thesystem, date of the execution, date of recommendation of a behavioraltherapy, information indicative of whether or not the patient hasactually performed a therapeutic action such as a behavioral therapy,and implemented coaching.

The patient information in this embodiment may be obtained by a medicaldoctor through patient interview during medical examination, and inputand registered in the database 103 via the doctor-side electronic device105 used by the medical doctor, or may be input and registered in thedatabase 103 via the patient-side electronic device 104 used by thepatient. It is to be understood that the two input processes may becombined together. Further, after start of the smoking cessationtherapy, the patient information may be updated by any of the aboveprocesses.

In aftermentioned embodiments, the patient information is stored in thestorage section 704 of the database 103 in association with anidentification (ID) number identifying each patient, in the form of alist depicted in FIG. 10 . As needed, other necessary information may beappropriately added, and unnecessary information may be not used. InFIG. 10 , the personal information includes the following items: name;age; and duration of smoking (year). Further, the smokingcessation-related health-care history information includes the followingitems: number of days of therapy; smoking-urge index as conditionhistory; smoking history; medication history; and therapy history. Thesmoking cessation-related health-care history information may be storedtogether with date. As regards the smoking-urge index, the smoking-urgeindex 5 means that a patient has a highest level of smoking-urge, andthe smoking-urge index 0 means that a patient has a lowest level ofsmoking-urge. The medication history means a daily situation ofmedication, wherein 1 means that a patient took medication, and 0 meansthat a patient did not take any medication. The therapy history presentsa history of a therapy implemented for a patient. Each of a plurality oftypes of therapies is identified by a therapy identification number(ID), and a therapy ID of a therapy implemented is recorded.

In the aftermentioned embodiments, each of the therapies is stored inthe storage section 604 of the server 102 in association with theidentification number (ID) identifying each therapy, in the form of atherapy list depicted in FIGS. 11A and 11B. Alternatively, the systemmay be configured such that the therapy list is stored in the storagesection 704 of the database 103, and appropriately read by the server102. The therapy list includes the following items: message; responseoptions; correct response information; therapy type; condition/cause;follow-up; and score. The message is to be displayed in the patient-sideelectronic device 104, and includes a message for smoking cessationtherapy. When the message is an inquiry for a patient (patient inquiry),and a response is requested, the response options are options forresponse to be displayed in the patient-side electronic device 104. Thepatient inquiry is intended to inquire about patient's understandinginformation indicative of understanding of a patient about asmoking-related matter. The correct response information may include thefollowing sub-items: correct option; and guidance information. Thecorrect option means a number of one of the response options which isdeemed to be correct. The guidance information is indicative ofinformation which is deemed to be correct with respect to the patientinquiry as a message. Instead of a message based on a simple text, theguidance information may be a moving picture such as an educationalvideo. In this case, the guidance information of the therapy list mayinclude an instruction for reproducing the educational video, andinformation designating a storage area of the educational video. On theother hand, when the message is not a patient inquiry, the responseoptions and the correct response information are not indispensable. Theabove information may be presented to a patient, in such a manner thatit is output from an audio output section such as a speaker in the formof sound, in addition to being displayed on the display section 802 ofthe patient-side electronic device 104. The display section may becombined with the audio output section to form an output section.

The therapy type is information indicative of to which of thecognitive-behavioral therapy, the behavioral therapy and the coachingeach of the therapy ID corresponds. In FIGS. 11A and 11B, the therapytypes “1”, “2” and “3” means the cognitive-behavioral therapy, thebehavioral therapy and the coaching, respectively. The condition/causemeans a condition and its cause triggering implementation of the therapyassociated with each therapy ID. In this item, a number on the left(front) side of “/” and a number on the right (rear) side of “I” denote,respectively, to the condition and the cause. In the aftermentionedembodiments, the cause is set in combination with the condition. Asregards the condition, “1”, “2” and “3” mean a condition in which apatient has smoking urge, a condition in which a patient has a headache,and a condition in which a patient is irritated, respectively. “1” and“2” as the cause of the smoking urge mean stress, and offering ofcigarettes by an acquaintance, respectively. That is, “1/1” means that apatient has smoking urge, and its cause is stress. “1” and “2” as thecause of the headache mean a lack of nicotine, and cold, respectively.Further, “0” as the cause means that a patient has not yet been able tospecify the cause. In one or more embodiments of the present invention,the cause information is not indispensable. That is, a therapy to beimplemented can be specified only by the condition, so that anembodiment devoid of the cause information is also encompassed withinthe scope of the present invention. A plurality of sets of the conditionand the cause can be assigned to one therapy ID. In this case, when aset of a condition and its cause input by a patient corresponds to oneof the plurality of sets of the condition and the cause, a therapyassociated with the therapy ID will be implemented. The follow-up isinformation indicative of whether or not it is necessary to executefollow-up processing after a certain therapy is implemented, and, whennecessary, a timing at which the follow-up processing is to be executed.For example, the follow-up in each of the therapy IDs 1 to 4 is set to“5”. The follow-up “5” means that it is necessary to execute thefollow-up processing, wherein the follow-up processing will be executedafter 5 minutes since completion of the implementation of the therapy.

The score is information to be used when selecting a therapy to beimplemented for a patient, and a reference score is set for each of thecondition history (smoking-urge index), the smoking history, themedication history, the therapy history and the number of days oftherapy. For example, the smoking history in the therapy ID 1 is set to“>1”. This means that a requirement for implementing a therapyassociated with the therapy ID 1 comprises a condition in which apatient has smoked one or more cigarettes after start of the therapy. Onthe other hand, the smoking history “4” means that the therapyassociated with the therapy ID 1 is not implemented for a patient forwhom this therapy has already been implemented. Each of the conditionhistory (smoking-urge index) and the smoking history in the therapy ID 7is set to “0*3”. This means that a therapy associated with the therapyID 7 is implemented when a situation where each of the smoking-urgeindex and the smoking history is 0 is continued for 3 days. Themedication history “1*3” means that a requirement for implementing thetherapy associated with the therapy ID 7 comprises a condition in whicha patient continuously takes a prescribed medicine for 3 days until now.The therapy history “12” means that the requirement for implementing thetherapy associated with the therapy ID 7 comprises a condition in whicha therapy associated with a therapy ID 12 (not depicted) has beenalready implemented. The number of days of therapy “28>>21” means thatthe requirement for implementing the therapy associated with the therapyID 7 comprises a condition in which the number of days after start ofthe therapy is greater than 21 and less than 28. In the followingembodiments, a therapy satisfying all of the requirements defined by theabove scores is selected. Alternatively, the therapy may be implementedwhen at least one of the requirements is fulfilled, or priorities,weighting factors or the like may be set to respective requirements.

First Embodiment

An operation of a system according to a first embodiment of the presentinvention will be described. In this embodiment, a smartphone is used asthe patient-side electronic device 104, and a notebook-size personalcomputer is used as the doctor-side electronic device 105. In thefollowing embodiments, only for the sake of explanation, operationsbetween one patient-side electronic device 104 and one doctor-sideelectronic device 105 will be described. However, it should beunderstood that this system may comprise two or more patient-sideelectronic devices 104 and two or more doctor-side electronic devices105.

As depicted in FIG. 12 , in this embodiment, when a patient operates thepatient-side electronic device 104 which is his/her own smartphone, toinput information indicative of a current condition of the patient, atleast one of behavioral therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapyinformation and coaching is implemented.

Assume that a patient whose patient ID=0 is “AAAA”. When the patientthinks that, after start of smoking cessation therapy, a conditionproblem associated with the smoking cessation therapy, such as smokingurges and withdrawal symptoms, occurs, the patient touches a nurse callbutton displayed on the display section 802 of the smart phone as thepatient-side electronic device 104 (step S1201). Then, in thepatient-side electronic device 104, the control section 801 operates tocause the display section 802 to display thereon a condition inputscreen for inquiring about a specific state of a current condition (stepS1202). In this embodiment, the message “What's happening? 1: Urge tosmoke, 2: Headache, 3. Irritation” for prompting the patient to selectany of three options about condition is displayed. Any other suitableoptions about condition, such as difficulty in concentrating, anddifficulty in sleeping, may be additionally displayed. Among them, thepatient selectively inputs one option indicative of a current conditionestimated by the patient, via the input section 803 of the patient-sideelectronic device 104 (step S1204).

When the patient-side electronic device 104 receives, from the patient,the response which is information indicative of the current condition,the control section 801 operates to detect the response, and thendecides, based on the response, whether or not it is necessary to promptthe patient to input a cause of the condition. When necessary, thecontrol section 801 operates to cause the display section 802 to displaya cause input screen in conformity to the condition (step S1206). Inthis embodiment, it is preliminarily decided that respective causes of“1. Urge to smoke” and “2: Headache” are inquired, but a cause of “3.Irritation” is not inquired. An inquiry message is also preliminarilyprepared with respect to each of “1. Urge to smoke” and “2: Headache”.Here, as one example, assume that the current condition of the patientis a state in which the patient has an urge to smoke, i.e., smokingurge, and the option “1. Urge to smoke” is selected in the step S1202.In response to the selection, the control section 801 operates to causethe display section 802 to display thereon the message “What's a causeof smoking urge? 1: Stress, 2: Offering by acquaintance” and prompt thepatient to input the cause (step S1206). Assume that the patient thinksthe smoking urge is caused by stress. Thus, the patient selects theoption “1. Stress”, and inputs the response via the input section 803(step S1208). Information indicative of the current smoking urge as thecurrent condition of the patient, and the input cause is transmitted tothe server 102 via the communication section 805, together with apatient ID (0) for identifying this patient (step S1210). The stepsS1201 to S1206 may be executed, for example, by an interactive modeconfigured such that the patient-side electronic device 104 transmitsinformation indicative of a touch to the nurse call button, to theserver 102, and responsively the server 102 transmits information fordisplay of a condition input screen, to the patient-side electronicdevice 104.

In the server 102, when the communication section 605 receivesinformation indicative of the patient ID, the current condition of thepatient and the cause (step S1212), the control section 601 operates totransmit a transmission request for patient information about thepatient identified based on the received patient ID, to the database 103via the communication section 605 (step S1214). In the database 103,when the communication section 705 receives the transmission request(step S1216), the control section 701 operates to retrieve patientinformation about the patient, from the storage section 704, based onthe patient ID reconceived together with the patient informationtransmission request (step S1218), and transmit the patient informationto the server 102 (step S1220).

In the server 102, when the communication section 605 receives thepatient information from the server 102 (step S1222), the controlsection 601 operates to select, from the therapy list stored in thestorage section 604, a therapy appropriate to the current condition ofthe patient, based on the received patient information and the cause ofthe smoking urge. In this embodiment, the patient AAAA currently hassmoking urge, and thinks that a cause of the smoking urge is stress.Further, this patient has smoked one or more cigarettes after start ofthe therapy. Thus, therapies associated with the therapy IDs 1 and 3 to5 can be selected. Although all of the therapies may be implemented, thenumber of the therapies may be limited to a given value. In thisembodiment, each of a maximum number of cognitive-behavioral therapies,a maximum of behavioral therapies and a maximum of coachings is set toone. In this embodiment, therapies associated with the therapy ID 1, thetherapy ID 3 and the therapy ID 5, are selected as cognitive-behavioraltherapy, behavioral therapy and coaching, respectively. Although boththerapies associated with each the therapy IDs 3 and 4 are behavioraltherapy, one of them is randomly selected. Alternatively, the therapymay be selected according to a given rule.

Further, the control section 601 of the server 102 operates to decide animplementation sequence of the selected three therapies, according to agiven rule. In this embodiment, according to a rule that behavioraltherapy, coaching and cognitive-behavioral therapy are implemented inthis order, behavioral therapy in the therapy ID 3, coaching in thetherapy ID 5 and cognitive-behavioral therapy in the therapy ID 1 areimplemented in this order. By implementing these therapies in thisorder, it becomes possible to effectively improve the current conditionand continue the smoking cessation therapy. For example, substitutivebehavioral therapy appropriate to a currently-occurring smoking urge andits cause may be implemented so as to stop or relieve the currentsmoking urge. Further, coaching can be implemented to encourage thepatient to lead the patient to a psychological state free fromincreasing smoking urges again. Then, after mitigating the smoking urge,cognitive-behavioral therapy is implemented so as to correctunderstanding of the patient about the previously-occurring smoking urgeand its cause, when it is incorrect. This makes it possible to providebetter understanding and awareness of the patient, as compared to asituation where cognitive-behavioral therapy is implemented after arelatively long time has elapsed since the occurrence of smoking urge.Thus, it is possible to cut off the incorrectly-understood associationbetween smoking and smoking urge (current condition)/its cause, and thuseffectively prevent the patient from reaching the same level of smokingurge again.

The control section 601 of the server 102 operates to reset a counter Nto 0 (step S1226), and count up to N (step S1228). Then, the controlsection 601 operates to implement the therapy (ID “3”) as a decidedfirst (N-th) therapy.

An implementation procedure for behavioral therapy and coaching isdepicted in FIG. 13 . First of all, the control section 601 operates totransmit behavioral therapy information or coaching informationindicative of the selected N-th therapy, to the patient-side electronicdevice 104 via the communication section 605 (step S1301). Thebehavioral therapy information or coaching information includes amessage in the therapy list. At this point, N=1. Thus, an operation ofimplementing the therapy associated with the therapy ID 3 will bedescribed below. The therapy associated with the therapy ID 3 isbehavioral therapy (therapy type 2), and is implemented according to theprocedure in FIG. 13 . The control section 601 of the server 102operates to read the therapy list from the storage section 604 and,after adding the message associated with the therapy ID 3 to behavioraltherapy information, transmit the resulting behavioral therapyinformation to the patient-side electronic device 104 (step S1301).Then, in the patient-side electronic device 104, the communicationsection 805 receives the behavioral therapy information (step S1302),and the control section 801 operates to cause the display section 802 todisplay thereon the message “Do mild exercise to relieve stress”, basedon the behavioral therapy information (step S1304). This behavioraltherapy is substitutive behavioral therapy intended to instruct apatient to perform a behavior for relieving a currently-occurringsmoking urge, other than smoking, to thereby relieve the smoking urge.In this procedure, it is important to, immediately after a patient hassmoking urge, specify a cause of the smoking urge, and implement asubstitutive behavioral therapy appropriate to the specified cause. Thismakes it possible to effectively relieve the smoking urge. Thepatient-side electronic device 104 transmits therapy implementationconfirmation information indicative of completion of therapyimplementation processing in the patient-side electronic device 104(step S1306).

In the server 102, upon receiving the therapy implementationconfirmation information (step S1308), the control section 601 operatesto transmit an update instruction for causing information indicative ofimplementation of the therapy associated with the therapy ID 3 to berecorded in the therapy history so as to update the therapy history, tothe database 103 via the communication section 605 (step S1310). In thedatabase 103, upon receiving the update instruction (step S1312), thecontrol section 701 operates to update the therapy history of thepatient AAAA based on the patient ID and the therapy ID (step S1314).Subsequently, in the server 102, follow-up implementation settingprocessing, i.e., processing of performing setting to implementfollow-up, is executed (step S1316). The above update processing may beexecuted after behavioral therapy information or coaching information istransmitted from the server 102 to the patient-side electronic device104 and without the transmitting and receiving of the therapyimplementation confirmation information. Further, the update processingmay be executed after the follow-up implementation setting processing(step S1316).

Details of the follow-up implementation setting processing (step S1316)will be described based on FIG. 14 . First of all, in the server 102,the control section 601 operates to decide, based on the therapy liststored in the storage section 604, whether or not the implementedtherapy requires follow-up (step S1401). Referring to the therapy list,the follow-up parameter of the implemented therapy associated with thetherapy ID 3 is “5”. Thus, the control section 601 of the server 102operates to decide that the implemented therapy requires follow-up, anda given timing for the follow-up is at 5 minutes after completion of theimplementation (steps S1401 and S1402). The control section 601 of theserver 102 operates to set a schedule so as to execute the follow-upprocessing in 5 minutes (step S1404). This processing can be executed asa scheduled execution process such as a cron job.

Next, the follow-up processing will be described based on FIG. 15 . Inthe server 102, at a scheduled time during the follow-up implementationsetting processing, the control section 601 operates to transmit aneffect-related inquiry message indicative of a message for inquiringabout whether or not a previously-occurring condition is improved (stepS1501). In the patient-side electronic device 104, upon receiving theeffect-related inquiry message (step S1502), the control section 801operates to cause the display section 802 to display the effect-relatedinquiry message thereon. In this embodiment, the message “Has urge tosmoke been relived? 1: YES, 2: NO” is displayed. In response to this,the patient touches either one of two buttons “1: YES” and “2: NO” inthe input section 603 as a touch panel of the smartphone, to input aneffect-related response, and the input effect-related response istransmitted (step S1506). In the server 102, the communication section605 receives the effect-related response (step S1508), and the controlsection 601 operates to determine whether or not the effect-relatedresponse is “1”. When the effect-related response is “1” which meansthat the previously-occurring smoking urge has been relived, thefollow-up processing is terminated. On the other hand, when theeffect-related response is “1” which means that the previously-occurringsmoking urge has not been yet relived, the control section 601 operatesto select an additional therapy for relieving the smoking urge (stepS1512), and implement the selected therapy (step S1514). As theadditional therapy to be selected, it is possible to select one of thetherapies associated with the already implemented therapy, or toimplement the same therapy as the already implemented therapy again.Further, one or more therapies may be selected and implemented using thesame procedure as the aforementioned steps S1214 to S1232. In thisembodiment, the therapy associated with the therapy ID 5 as theadditional therapy for relieving stress which is the cause of thecurrently-occurring smoking charge is selected, and implemented by thesteps S1301 to S1316 depicted in FIG. 13 . Then, the follow-upprocessing is terminated. As above, after implementation of the selectedtherapy, an effect of the therapy can be confirmed at an appropriatetiming as needed basis, wherein, when the condition has not been yetimproved, an appropriate therapy for improving the condition can beadditionally implemented. The follow-up processing may be repeated atgiven intervals until the condition is improved. Further, thepatient-side electronic device 104 may be configured to autonomouslydisplay the effect-related message after an elapse of a given time toprompt a patient to input the effect-related response, and then transmitthe effect-related response to the server 102.

When the follow-up implementation setting processing (step S1316) iscompleted, behavioral therapy and coaching implementation processing inFIG. 13 is completed, and the therapy implementation processing in thestep S1230 in FIG. 12 is completed. Then, the control section 601operates to determine whether or not a therapy to be implemented stillremains in the selected therapies (step S1232). In the step S1232, Kdenotes the number of the selected therapies. The setup follow-upprocessing is processing to be implemented at a given scheduled timing.Thus, a next one of the therapies selected in the step S1224 can beimplemented without any need to wait for completion of the follow-upprocessing.

Further, the server 102 may be configured to, after confirming, in thestep S1310, the implementation of behavioral therapy in the patient-sideelectronic device 104, transmit a message for inquiring about whether ornot the patient actually performed the behavioral therapy, and thepatient-side electronic device 104 may be configured to present themessage to the patient to make an inquiry thereabout. In this case, whenthe patient selectively input a response to the inquiry about whether ornot he/she actually performed, and the response is transmitted from thepatient-side electronic device 104 to the server 102. Then, the server102 transmits the response information to the database 103. For example,in the item “therapy history” of the smoking cessation-relatedhealth-care history, in addition to the therapy ID corresponding to theimplemented therapy, a sub-item for information about whether or not thepatient actually performed the behavioral therapy may be additionallyprovided, and updated based on information from the server 102. Thisconfirmation processing of confirming whether or not the patientactually performed the behavioral therapy may be composed of a cron jobas in the follow-up processing, and may be executed after 5 minutessince completion of the implementation of the therapy. Information abouta timing at which the confirmation processing is to be executed may bestored in the therapy list. As regards coaching, the same processing asabove may be executed as needed basis.

In the embodiment, three therapies are selected, and therefore K=3.Further, the first processing has been executed up to now, and thereforeK=3 and N=1. Thus, K>N is satisfied, so that the routine returns to thestep S1228. In the step S1228, N is incremented to 2, and asecondly-selected therapy associated with the therapy ID 5 isimplemented (step S1230). As mentioned above, the therapy associatedwith the therapy ID 5 is coaching. The second therapy is implemented inthe steps S1301 to S1316 depicted in FIG. 13 , i.e., based on the sameprocedure as that for behavioral therapy. In the step S1304, instead ofthe behavioral therapy information, the coaching message “Mr/Miss XXdefinitely does not buckle under stress!” for encouraging the patient isdisplayed on the display section 802 of the patient-side electronicdevice 104. This makes it possible to further encourage the patientwhose smoking urge is stopped or relieved by substitutive behavioraltherapy, and provide psychological stability. At a time when thecoaching implementation processing is completed, K (=3)>N(=2), so thatthe routine returns to the step S1228. In the step S1228, N isincremented to 3, and cognitive-behavioral therapy which is athirdly-selected therapy associated with the therapy ID 1 isimplemented.

A procedure of cognitive-behavioral therapy implementation processing(step S1230) will be described based on FIG. 16 . First of all, in stepS1601, the control section 601 of the server 102 operates to transmit,to the patient-side electronic device 104, a patient's understandinginformation request for requesting transmission of patient'sunderstanding information including patient's understanding about asmoking-related matter designated by the selected N-th therapy. Thepatient's understanding information request includes the message in thetherapy list. In the patient-side electronic device 104, upon receivingthe patient's understanding information request (step S1602), thecontrol section 801 operates to cause the display section 802 to displaythereon a message, based on the received patient's understandinginformation request (step S1604). In this embodiment, based on messageinformation for the selected cognitive-behavioral therapy associatedwith the therapy ID 1, the following message for inquiring understandingof the patient about an association between a current condition/itscauses and smoking, i.e., a smoking-related matter, is displayed: “Doyou think that stress can be relieved by smoking? 1. All of stresses arerelieved, 2. Stress caused by fatigue is relieved, 3. Only stress causedby a lack of nicotine is relieved”.

In response to this, the patient selectively inputs, as a response, oneof the options which is understood as correct by the patient, via theinput section 803 of the patient-side electronic device 104, and theinput response is transmitted to the server 102 (step S1606). In theserver 102, when the communication section 605 receives the response(step S1608), the control section 601 operates to compare the correctresponse information described in the therapy list with the inputresponse information, so as to decide whether or not the patient'sunderstanding about the smoking-related matter is incorrect (stepS1610). Then, the control section 601 operates to, when the patient'sunderstanding is correct, transmit information indicative of thisdecision, and, when it is incorrect, transmit cognitive behavioraltherapy information formed based on the correct response information andincluding guidance information indicative of information deemed to becorrect (step S1612). In the patient-side electronic device 104, uponreceiving the cognitive behavioral therapy information (step S1614), thecontrol section 801 operates to cause the display section 802 to displaythereon the information deemed to be correct (step S1616).

More specifically, in this embodiment, as the patient's understandingwith respect to the following smoking-related matter: “stress can berelieved by smoking?”, the patient selectively inputs “1. All ofstresses are relieved” as a response, and transmits the response to theserver 102, in the step S1606. Then, in the server 102, the controlsection 601 operates to read the correct response information “3” withreference to the correct response information associated with thetherapy ID 1 in the therapy information list. The control section 601operates to compare the patient's response with the correct responseinformation and determine that they are different, i.e., the patient'sunderstanding is incorrect (step S1610). Then, the control section 601operates to transmit cognitive behavioral therapy information includingguidance information indicative of the guidance information included inthe correct response information in the therapy list (step S1612). Inthe patient-side electronic device 104, upon receiving the cognitivebehavioral therapy information, based on the guidance informationincluded therein, the control section 801 operated to cause the displaysection 802 to display thereon the following message: “Stress to berelieved by smoking is only stress caused by a lack of nicotine. Stresscaused by fatigue is not relieved by smoking”. In this way, when smokingurge occurs, it is possible to specify its cause and further incorrectunderstanding of the patient about an association between the smokingurge/the cause and smoking, and correct the patient's incorrectunderstanding to thereby relieve the smoking urge, and prevent thepatient from reaching the same level of smoking urge in the future.

As cognitive-behavioral therapy is implemented at a timing closer to atime when smoking urge occurs, the patient can more easily become awareof his/her incorrect understanding more easily, so that it is possibleto increase the effect of the cognitive-behavioral therapy.

When the patient's understanding is correct, for example, the message“That is correct. You understand it very well!” can be displayed. Amessage for a patient's correct response may be included in the therapylist. Alternatively, a list of messages for a patient's correct responsemay be separately provided, and one message may be selected therefrom bya given criterion and transmitted to the patient-side electronic device104 in such a manner that it is included in the cognitive-behavioraltherapy information. The message may be any other suitable type ofinformation, as long as it can be presented to the patient in a formatcapable of informing the patient of a fact that the patient's responseis correct.

After implementing the cognitive-behavioral therapy in the step S1616,in the patient-side electronic device 104, the control section 801operates to transmit therapy implementation confirmation informationindicative of completion of the implementation of the therapy (stepS1618). In the server 102, upon receiving the therapy implementationconfirmation information (step S1620), the control section 601 operatesto transmit, to the database 103, an update instruction for instructingthe database 103 to record information indicative of implementation ofthe Nth therapy in the therapy history to update the therapy history(step S1622). In the database 103, upon receiving the update instruction(step S1624), the control section 701 operates to update the therapyhistory based on the update instruction (step S1626). Subsequently,follow-up implementation setting is executed (step S1628). The updateprocessing may be executed after the cognitive behavioral therapyinformation is transmitted from the server 102 to the patient-sideelectronic device 104 and without the transmitting and receiving of thetherapy implementation confirmation information, or may be executedafter the follow-up implementation setting (step S1628) is executed. Thefollow-up implementation setting (step S1628) is the same as thatdescribed based on FIG. 14 .

In the same manner as described in connection with behavioral therapy asthe processing of confirming whether or not the patient actuallyperformed the implemented behavioral therapy, the server 102 may beconfigured to, after confirming, in the step S1622, the implementationof the cognitive-behavioral therapy in the patient-side electronicdevice 104, transmit an inquiry message for confirming whether or notthe incorrect understanding is corrected to the correct understanding bythe cognitive-behavioral therapy, and obtain a response from thepatient. In this case, the server 102 can transmit the obtainedinformation to the database 103 to update the smoking cessation-relatedhealth-care history.

When the follow-up implementation setting (step S1628) is completed,cognitive-behavioral therapy implementation processing is completed.Thus, at the step S1232, the control section 601 operates to decidewhether or not a therapy to be implemented still remains in thepre-selected therapies. At this time, K=3, and N=3, so that K>N is notsatisfied. Thus, it is determined that all of the selected therapieshave been implemented, and the processing procedure triggered by thepatient's touch to the nurse call button is terminated.

The plurality of selected therapies may be configured such that after anelapse of a given time since completion of implementation of one of thetherapies, a second one of the therapies is implemented.

The above embodiment has been described based on one example where eachof behavioral therapy, coaching and cognitive-behavioral therapy isselected as one of a plurality of therapies, and the resulting totalthree therapies are implemented. Alternatively, the plurality oftherapies may be composed using any one of or any combination of thethree types of therapies. Further, two or more therapies, e.g., threetherapies, may be selected from each of the three types of therapies. Inthis case, it is apparent that the system can be operated in the samemanner.

In this embodiment, the entire processing can be repeatedly executed.For example, when information indicative of smoking urge is input from apatient at a certain timing, only cognitive-behavioral therapy may beimplemented, and then when information indicative of another smokingurge is input from the patient at a different timing, only behavioraltherapy may be implemented.

In the first embodiment according the present invention, when a patientreaches a given condition in connection with smoking, it is possible tospecify the condition and its cause and timely implement smokingcessation therapy appropriate to the specified condition and cause, tothereby effectively perform smoking cessation therapy. In addition,behavioral therapy, coaching and cognitive-behavioral therapy can beimplemented in combination to obtain greater effects. For example, byimplementing substitutive behavioral therapy appropriate tocurrently-occurring smoking urge, it is possible to stop or relieve thesmoking urge, and by implementing coaching, it is possible topsychologically support motivation of the patient to quit smoking. As aresult, when the patient becomes psychologically stable,cognitive-behavioral therapy can be implemented to correct incorrectunderstanding of the patient about an association between thepreviously-occurring smoking urge/its cause and smoking to prevent thepatient from reaching the same level of smoking urge again. The sameeffect can be obtained by a combination of behavioral therapy andcognitive-behavioral therapy or a combination of coaching andcognitive-behavioral therapy.

The notebook-size personal computer as the doctor-side electronic device105 used by a medical doctor is also connected to the server 102 via thenetwork 101. An information transmission request with identificationinformation of a patient read from the storage section 904 of thedoctor-side electronic device 105 is transmitted from the doctor-sideelectronic device 105. In the server 102, upon receiving the informationtransmission request, the control section 601 operates to extractpatient information stored in the database 103 and associated with theidentification information of the patient, and transmit the patientinformation to the doctor-side electronic device 105. In this way, themedical doctor can check the smoking cessation-related health-carehistory information which is updated from hour to hour.

Further, the server 102 may be configured such that, when the smokingcessation-related health-care history information is updated afterimplementation of behavioral therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy andcoaching, or when the smoking cessation-related health-care historyinformation is updated is updated by a patient, the control section 601operates to detect the update, and execute medication adjustmentprocessing. For example, the control section 601 of the server 102 isoperable, when it detects the update of the smoking cessation-relatedhealth-care history information, to receive the smokingcessation-related health-care history information from the database 103,based on a patient ID for identifying a patient associated with theupdated history information, and decide information about medicationadjustment based on the received smoking cessation-related health-carehistory information, and then to transmit the information aboutmedication adjustment to the doctor-side electronic device 105 used bythe medical doctor and/or the patient-side electronic device 104.

In the system according to the first embodiment, an appropriate therapyis implemented depending on a patient condition which varies from hourto hour, so that among patients, a large difference is likely to occurin progress of smoking cessation therapy. A patient who takes anappropriate behavior in conformity to implementation of an appropriatetherapy can significantly get an effect of smoking cessation therapy,whereas a patient who smokes a cigarette when smoking urge occurs,without pressing the nurse call button cannot expect to have mucheffect. Therefore, when the system according to the first embodiment isused, there are greater a difference in effect of smoking cessationtherapy among individual persons becomes greater than ever before.Therefore, by implementing medication adjustment based on the smokingcessation-related health-care history information varying from hour tohour, it becomes possible to take a medicine in conformity to progressof smoking cessation therapy in each patient, thereby improving theeffect of smoking cessation therapy. Further, medicine side-effecthistory information may be included in the smoking cessation-relatedhealth-care history information. In this case, it becomes possible toperform the medication adjustment based on the medicine side-effecthistory information so as to minimize a risk of medicine side-effect.

Although this embodiment has been described by taking a situation wheresmoking urge occurs, as an example of a current condition of a patient,the smoking cessation therapy can also be implemented in the sameprocedure in a situation where the symptom “2. Headache” occurs as awithdrawal symptom. Specifically, when a patient selects “2. Headache”in the step S1204 among the conditions displayed on the display section802 in the step S1202, the patient-side electronic device 104 isoperable to decide that this option requires an inquiry about its cause,and display a given cause input message on the display section 802 (stepS1206). For example, when the message

“What's a cause of headache? 1: Lack of nicotine, 2: Cold” is displayedon the display section 802 (step S1206), and the patient selects “1.Lack of nicotine” (step S1208), “2. Headache” and “1. Lack of nicotine”are transmitted to the server 102, as the information indicative of thecurrent condition of the patient and the information indicative of itscause, respectively (step S1210). Based on the received condition andcause information and the patient information acquired in the stepsD1212 to S1222, each of the therapies is selected and implemented in thesteps S1224 to S1232. In this case, the condition and cause are “2/1”(headache/lack of nicotine). Thus, for example, behavioral therapyassociated with the therapy ID 9 corresponding to “2/1” is implemented,and the message “9. Do you think that it is a good way to tentativelyrelieve headache by smoking a cigarette? 1. YES, 2. NO” is displayed inthe patient-side electronic device 104. When a response of the patientto the message is “2” which is incorrect, the message “The occurrence ofheadache due to a lack of nicotine is a symptom occurring in a course inwhich your brain changes to a normal state, and is a temporary symptom.If you smoke a cigarette now, your brain will return to anicotine-dependent state.” is presented to the patient as correctinformation. In this way, the patient's understanding can be corrected.

It should be noted that the cause of the condition is not necessarilyspecified. For example, when “3. Irritation” as a withdrawal symptom isselected in the step S1204 for inputting a condition, the steps S1206 toS1208 for specifying a cause of the irritation may be omitted. In thiscase, in the step S1210, only the current condition “Irritation” istransmitted to the server 102. Then, in the step S1224, one of thetherapies to be implemented is selected based on the condition“Irritation” and the patient information. For example, in the therapylist, the item “condition/cause” for a therapy which can be implementedunder the condition that the condition is “Irritation” and its cause isnot specified is described as “3/0”. This, behavioral therapy associatedwith the therapy ID 3 corresponding to “3/0” is implemented, and themessage “Do mild exercise to relieve stress” is displayed in thepatient-side electronic device 104. In the same manner,cognitive-behavioral therapy or coaching can be implemented withoutspecifying a cause.

Second Embodiment

A second embodiment of the present invention is different from the firstembodiment in that a smoking cessation therapy implementation processingis started at a timing decided by the server 102 based on the smokingcessation-related health-care history information of a patient, insteadof being started by an input of information indicative of a currentcondition of the patient. The remaining configuration is the same asthat in the first embodiment. The following description will be madeabout only the difference from the first embodiment.

With reference to FIG. 17 , a processing for setting a schedule so as toimplement a given therapy by the server 102 based on patient informationat a given timing. First of all, the server 102 transmits a patientinformation transmission request to the database 103 at a given timing(step S1701). The given timing may be timing set at intervals of aconstant period of time, e.g., 24 hours, or may be a given clock time,e.g., 12 a.m. or may be a time when the patient information is updated,or may be a combination of two or more of them. For example, the updateof the patient information is executed when a certain therapy isimplemented as mentioned above, or is executed by the database 103,based on information about daily condition, status of smoking cessation,status of medication and others, transmitted from the patient to theserver 102.

In the database 103, upon receiving the patient information transmissionrequest, the control section 701 operates to extract patient informationfrom the storage section 704 and transmit the patient information to theserver 102. The extraction of the patient information may be performedfor all patients in a lump, or may be performed one or more patientspecified by a patient ID transmitted from the server 102 together withthe patient information transmission request. In the server 102, uponreceiving the patient information (step S1708), the control section 601operates to set a schedule so as to implement a given therapy based onthe patient information at a given timing (step S1710). As with thescheduling of the follow-up processing (step S1404), this schedulingprocessing may be set as a scheduled execution processing such as a cronjob. Scheduled therapies may be stored in the storage section 604 of theserver 102 in the form of a therapy scheduling table. The number oftherapies which are scheduled to be implemented at the same timing maybe two or more. This scheduling processing is executed based on at leastthe smoking cessation-related health-care history information in thepatient information. Specifically, the scheduling processing is based onthe smoking cessation-related health-care history information such ascondition history, smoking history, medication history, therapy history,and the number of days of health care, which vary from hour to hour, sothat it becomes possible to implement an optimal therapy at an optimaltiming for the patient. In addition thereto, fixed personal informationmay be considered. The scheduled timing may be timing after an elapse of0 second, i.e., immediate timing, or may be timing after an elapse of 1hour, or 9 a.m. tomorrow. When the therapy list includes information fordeciding an appropriate timing, the scheduled timing may be set based onthis information.

For example, when the patient AAAA whose patient ID is 1 has performedupdate of information indicating that the smoking-urge index on April 3is 0, via the server 102, as a part of update of a quitting smokingdiary, the server 102 is operable to transmit a request for updating thesmoking cessation-related health-care history information of the patientAAAA recorded in the database 103. Then, after completion of update inthe database 103, the control section 601 of the server 102 operates totransmit, to the database 103 together with the patient ID 1, a requestfor transmitting the patient information of the patient AAAA (stepS1701). In the database 103, upon receiving the request (step S1702),the control section 701 operates to extract the patient informationassociated with the patient ID 1 (step S1704), and transmit the patientinformation to the server 102 (step S1706). In the server 102, thecontrol section 601 operates to select a therapy to be implemented,based on the received patient information, and set a schedule so as toimplement the select therapy at a given timing. In this embodiment,based on the conditions: condition history (smoking urge index) of thepatient AAAA is 0 for the third day from April 1 to April 3; only atherapy associated with the therapy ID 12 has been implemented; and thenumber of days of therapy is greater than 21 and less than 28, a therapyassociated with the therapy ID 7 is selected, and a scheduled time isset to 1 minute so as to quickly implement this therapy. In the secondembodiment, there is no input of a current condition and its cause froma patient. Thus, a therapy having no restriction by the item“condition/cause” is selected. It should be understood that a therapymay be selected in disregard of the item “condition/cause”.

As depicted in FIG. 18 , in the server 102, the control section 601operates to keep a standby state until a scheduled time forimplementation of a therapy (step S1801), and decide L pieces oftherapies each scheduled so as to be implemented at a scheduled time(step S1802). For example, the L therapies can be decided based on atherapy scheduling table stored in the storage section 604 of the server102. Then, an implementation sequence of the one or more decidedtherapies is decided according to a given rule. This may be decided inthe same manner as that in the first embodiment. Further, this sequencemay be decided by the scheduling processing. In this case, in order oftiming of the decision, a first therapy is decided. A counter M is setto 0 (step S1804), and then incremented by 1 for a firstly-decidedtherapy (step S1806). Then, the decided first therapy is implemented(step S1808). This therapy implementation processing is the same as theprocessing described based on FIG. 13 with regard to behavioral therapyand coaching, and is the same as the processing described based on FIG.16 with regard to cognitive-behavioral therapy. After implementation ofthe first therapy, the number L of the decided therapies and the numberM of implemented therapies are compared (step S1808). When the number Lof the decided therapies is greater than the number M, the routinereturns to the step S1806. In the step S1806, one of the remainingtherapies is implemented. On the other hand, when the number L is equalto the number M, all of the decided therapies are determined to beimplemented, and the processing of implementing the scheduled therapiesis terminated.

For example, in the server 102, the control section 601 operates to, atan implementation time for a therapy associated with the therapy ID 7and scheduled for the patient AAAA, read the therapy associated with thetherapy ID 7 and scheduled at the time, from the therapy schedulingtable stored in the storage section 604, and decide to implement thetherapy associated with the therapy ID 7 (step S1802). The number oftherapies to be implemented is one, so that L=1. Then, after resettingthe counter M (step S1804), the counter M is incremented for theimplementation of the first therapy (step S1806). Then, in the stepS1808, the therapy associated with the therapy ID 7 is implemented. Thetherapy associated with the therapy ID 7 is cognitive-behavioraltherapy. Thus, this therapy is implemented by the processing describedbased on FIG. 16 . In the cognitive-behavioral therapy associated withthe therapy ID 7, understanding of the patient about the followingsmoking-related matter: “whether or not there is no harm in smoking onecigarette” is acquired, and, when the patient has the followingincorrect understanding: “there is no harm in smoking one cigarette”,the coaching message “Please recognize that “smoking just one cigarette”does not simply mean “smoking only once” but results in a situationwhere your brain returns to a nicotine-dependent state.” is presented tothe patient.

In the second embodiment, it is possible to, based on a patient'scondition which varies from hour to hour, timely select an appropriatetherapy and implement the appropriate therapy at an appropriate timing,thereby more effectively performing smoking cessation therapy. Forexample, there are many cases where, when smoking cessation therapy isstarted, the smoking urge index is gradually reduced, and becomes 0after about 21 to 28 days. In this stage, although the patient usuallyhas no smoking urge, smoking urge can suddenly occur for some reason.Further, in this stage, the patient stops smoking for 20 days or more,so that it is often the case that he/she thinks that there is no harm insmoking one cigarette. In a situation where the patient has such anincorrect understanding, he/she is liable to smoke when smoking urgeoccurs. If the patient actually smokes, patient's brain returns to itsprevious state before the smoking cessation therapy, resulting insignificant setback in smoking cessation therapy. In the worst case,he/she can give up quitting smoking. Thus, the control section 601operates to timely decide to implement the cognitive-behavioral therapyassociated with the therapy ID 7, and implement this therapy. This makesit possible to correct the incorrect understanding of the patient aboutthe smoking-related matter to effectively prevent smoking due toincorrect understanding that patients in this stage tend to have.

As above, in the second embodiment, it becomes possible to monitor asmoking cessation-related health-care history of a patient on a dailybasis, and implement an appropriate therapy each time, therebyimplementing smoking cessation therapy delicately.

In addition, for example, after confirming that cognition of a patientchanges, behavioral therapy can be implemented under the changedcognition, so that it becomes possible to enhance the effect of thebehavioral therapy.

As one example, assume that, in the step S1206, a patient selects “2:Offering by acquaintance” as a cause of smoking urge of the patient. Apatient who tends to smoke a cigarette offered by an acquaintance hasincorrect cognition that if he/she declines a cigarette offered by anacquaintance, the acquaintance feels bad. When such incorrect cognitionis confirmed in the steps S1604 to S11610 after implementation ofcognitive-behavioral therapy associated with the therapy ID 2, themessage “Almost no person feels bad even if you decline his/her offer ofcigarettes. Rather, it is often the case that he/she supports quittingsmoking.” is presented (step S1616) to correct the incorrectunderstanding of the patient. In the case where information indicativeof implementation of this cognitive-behavioral therapy associated withthe therapy ID 2 is set in the therapy list, as one requirement ofimplementation of a therapy associated with the therapy ID 8, thetherapy associated with the therapy ID 8 is implemented at a timing whena fact that the therapy associated with the therapy ID 2 has beenimplemented at a subsequent timing is confirmed from the smokingcessation-related health-care history information. A sub-item “effect ofimplemented therapy” may be added to “therapy history” in the therapylist. In this case, when the effect of changing cognition according tothe aforementioned procedure is confirmed, in addition to theimplementation of the cognitive-behavioral therapy, behavioral therapyappropriate to the change in cognition can be implemented. After thecognitive-behavioral therapy associated with the therapy ID 2 isimplemented to cause the patient to understand that almost no personfeels bad even if you decline his/her offer of cigarettes, the message“You should prepare a specific way to decline offer of cigarettes” forbehavioral therapy is presented. This makes it possible to set anenvironment in which the patient can wisely decline offering ofcigarettes and receive support from the acquaintance, based on correctcognition.

When behavioral therapy is implemented by itself, it can provide only alimited effect. In this embodiment, after a change in cognition occursbased on cognitive-behavioral therapy, behavioral therapy appropriate tothe change in cognition can be implemented, so that it becomes possibleto improve the effect of the behavioral therapy.

Third Embodiment

A system designed to be used for a patient who is attempting to quitsmoking, according to a third embodiment of the present invention, has afunction of executing both of a procedure for deciding a start timing ofimplementing smoking cessation therapy, according to the firstembodiment, and a procedure for deciding a start timing of implementingsmoking cessation therapy, according to the second embodiment. The firstembodiment and the second embodiment are different from each other interms of a technique of deciding the start timing of implementingsmoking cessation therapy. However, by combining the first and secondembodiments together, it definitely becomes possible to execute both ofthe two types of therapy start timing deciding processing so as toimplement the therapy at a timing decided by either one of the two typesof therapy start timing deciding processing. The remaining configurationis the same as those in the first and second embodiments. At each of thetimings, an appropriate therapy may be selected and implemented. Forexample, a therapy to be started at certain timing may be onlycognitive-behavioral therapy, and a therapy to be started at anothertiming may be only behavioral therapy.

Fourth Embodiment

In a fourth embodiment of the present invention, a patient inputs a textin the patient-side electronic device 104 and transmits informationindicative of the text to the server 102. Then, the same informationprocessing as those in the first to third embodiments are executed suchthat the control section 601 of the server 102 operates to subject thereceived information to syntax analysis processing or the like toanalyze and acquire a patient's response, and compare the patient'sresponse with correct response information. The remaining configurationis the same as those in the first to third second embodiments.

As described above, one or more embodiments provide a non-transitorycomputer-readable computer medium storing instructions for a patientattempting to quit smoking, the instructions causing a computer to:obtain smoking cessation-related health-care history information of thepatient updated by the patient attempting to quit smoking; determine,based on the smoking cessation-related health-care history information,a cognitive-behavioral therapy to be performed, to obtain patient'sunderstanding information about smoking related to thecognitive-behavioral therapy; when a request timing comes, transmit, toa patient-side electronic device, a patient's understanding informationrequest to request for transmission of the patient's understandinginformation about smoking; receive, from the patient-side electronicdevice, the patient's understanding information about smoking;determine, by comparing the received patient's understanding informationwith predetermined correct response information about smoking, whetherthe patient has a correct patient's understanding about smoking; andwhen the patient's understanding about smoking is incorrect, transmit,to the patient-side electronic device, cognitive-behavioral therapyinformation based on the predetermined correct response information.

In one or more embodiments, the instructions further cause the computerto: obtain information about the performed cognitive-behavioral therapyand changes of patient's understanding caused by thecognitive-behavioral therapy, determine a behavioral therapy to beperformed based on the performed cognitive-behavioral therapy and thechanges of patient's understanding caused by the cognitive-behavioraltherapy, and transmit, to the patient-side electronic device, behavioraltherapy information of the determined behavioral therapy indicative of abehavior to be taken by the patient.

In one or more embodiments, the requesting timing is determined based onthe smoking cessation-related health-care history information.

In one or more embodiments, the smoking cessation-related health-carehistory information includes at least one of smoking urge index andsmoking history, and the request timing is a smoking urge occurringtiming which is predicted based on the smoking cessation-relatedhealth-care history information.

In one or more embodiments, the patient's understanding about smoking isabout an effect on a patient's brain in smoking-cession given bysmoking.

In one or more embodiments, the instructions further cause the computerto: after transmitting the cognitive-behavioral therapy information,update the smoking cessation-related health-care history information,based on the patient's understanding information and thecognitive-behavioral therapy information; and based on the updatedsmoking cessation-related health-care history information, transmitinformation about medication adjustment, to at least one of adoctor-side electronic device used by a medical doctor and thepatient-side electronic device.

One or more embodiments provide a method for helping a patient who isattempting to quit smoking including: obtaining, by a processor, smokingcessation-related health-care history information of the patient updatedby the patient attempting to quit smoking; determining, by theprocessor, based on the smoking cessation-related health-care historyinformation, a cognitive-behavioral therapy to be performed, to obtainpatient's understanding information about smoking related to thecognitive-behavioral therapy; when a request timing comes, transmitting,by the processor to a patient-side electronic device, a patient'sunderstanding information request to request for transmission of thepatient's understanding information about smoking; receiving, by theprocessor from the patient-side electronic device, the patient'sunderstanding information about smoking; determining, by the processor,by comparing the received patient's understanding information withpredetermined correct response information about smoking, whether thepatient has a correct patient's understanding about smoking; and whenthe patient's understanding about smoking is incorrect, transmitting, bythe processor to the patient-side electronic device,cognitive-behavioral therapy information based on the predeterminedcorrect response information. One or more embodiments provide a systemfor a patient who is attempting to quit smoking configured to: obtainsmoking cessation-related health-care history information of the patientupdated by the patient attempting to quit smoking; determine, based onthe smoking cessation-related health-care history information, acognitive-behavioral therapy to be performed to obtain patient'sunderstanding information about smoking related to thecognitive-behavioral therapy; when a request timing comes, request aninput of the patient's understanding information about smoking; receivethe input of the patient's understanding information about smoking;determine, by comparing the received patient's understanding informationwith predetermined correct response information about smoking, whetherthe patient has a correct patient's understanding about smoking; andwhen the patient's understanding about smoking is incorrect, present, ata patient-side electronic device, cognitive-behavioral therapyinformation based on the predetermined correct response information.

The above embodiments are shown and described simply by way of examplefor explaining the present invention, and it is to be understood thatthe present invention is not limited to the embodiments, but variouschanges and modifications can be made therein without departing from thespirit and scope of the present invention as set forth in appendedclaims.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

-   100: system-   101: network-   102: server-   103: database-   104: patient-side electronic device-   105: doctor-side electronic device-   201: processing unit-   202: display unit-   203: input unit-   204: storage unit-   205: communication unit-   206: server program-   301: processing unit-   302: display unit-   303: input unit-   304: storage unit-   305: communication unit-   306: DB program-   401: processing unit-   402: display unit-   403: input unit-   404: storage unit-   405: communication unit-   406: patient program-   501: processing unit-   502: display unit-   503: input unit-   504: storage unit-   505: communication unit-   506: doctor program-   601: control section-   602: display section-   603: input section-   604: storage section-   605: communication section-   701: control section-   702: display section-   703: input section-   704: storage section-   705: communication section-   801: control section-   802: display section-   803: input section-   804: storage section-   805: communication section-   901: control section-   902: display section-   903: input section-   904: storage section-   905: communication section

1. A non-transitory computer-readable computer medium storinginstructions for a patient attempting to quit smoking, the instructionscausing a computer to: obtain smoking cessation-related health-carehistory information of the patient updated by the patient attempting toquit smoking; determine, based on the smoking cessation-relatedhealth-care history information, a cognitive-behavioral therapy to beperformed, to obtain patient's understanding information about smokingrelated to the cognitive-behavioral therapy; when a request timingcomes, transmit, to a patient-side electronic device, a patient'sunderstanding information request to request for transmission of thepatient's understanding information about smoking; receive, from thepatient-side electronic device, the patient's understanding informationabout smoking; determine, by comparing the received patient'sunderstanding information with predetermined correct responseinformation about smoking, whether the patient has a correct patient'sunderstanding about smoking; and when the patient's understanding aboutsmoking is incorrect, transmit, to the patient-side electronic device,cognitive-behavioral therapy information based on the predeterminedcorrect response information.
 2. The non-transitory computer-readablecomputer medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions further cause thecomputer to: obtain information about the performed cognitive-behavioraltherapy and changes of patient's understanding caused by thecognitive-behavioral therapy, determine a behavioral therapy to beperformed based on the performed cognitive-behavioral therapy and thechanges of patient's understanding caused by the cognitive-behavioraltherapy, and transmit, to the patient-side electronic device, behavioraltherapy information of the determined behavioral therapy indicative of abehavior to be taken by the patient.
 3. The non-transitorycomputer-readable computer medium of claim 1, the requesting timing isdetermined based on the smoking cessation-related health-care historyinformation.
 4. The non-transitory computer-readable computer medium ofclaim 3, wherein the smoking cessation-related health-care historyinformation includes at least one of smoking urge index and smokinghistory, and the request timing is a smoking urge occurring timing whichis predicted based on the smoking cessation-related health-care historyinformation.
 5. The non-transitory computer-readable computer medium ofclaim 1, wherein the patient's understanding about smoking is about aneffect on a patient's brain in smoking-cession given by smoking.
 6. Thenon-transitory computer-readable computer medium of claim 1, wherein theinstructions further cause the computer to: after transmitting thecognitive-behavioral therapy information, update the smokingcessation-related health-care history information, based on thepatient's understanding information and the cognitive-behavioral therapyinformation; and based on the updated smoking cessation-relatedhealth-care history information, transmit information about medicationadjustment, to at least one of a doctor-side electronic device used by amedical doctor and the patient-side electronic device.
 7. A method forhelping a patient who is attempting to quit smoking comprising:obtaining, by a processor, smoking cessation-related health-care historyinformation of the patient updated by the patient attempting to quitsmoking; determining, by the processor, based on the smokingcessation-related health-care history information, acognitive-behavioral therapy to be performed, to obtain patient'sunderstanding information about smoking related to thecognitive-behavioral therapy; when a request timing comes, transmitting,by the processor to a patient-side electronic device, a patient'sunderstanding information request to request for transmission of thepatient's understanding information about smoking; receiving, by theprocessor from the patient-side electronic device, the patient'sunderstanding information about smoking; determining, by the processor,by comparing the received patient's understanding information withpredetermined correct response information about smoking, whether thepatient has a correct patient's understanding about smoking; and whenthe patient's understanding about smoking is incorrect, transmitting, bythe processor to the patient-side electronic device,cognitive-behavioral therapy information based on the predeterminedcorrect response information.
 8. A system for a patient who isattempting to quit smoking, the system being configured to: obtainsmoking cessation-related health-care history information of the patientupdated by the patient attempting to quit smoking; determine, based onthe smoking cessation-related health-care history information, acognitive-behavioral therapy to be performed to obtain patient'sunderstanding information about smoking related to thecognitive-behavioral therapy; when a request timing comes, request aninput of the patient's understanding information about smoking; receivethe input of the patient's understanding information about smoking;determine, by comparing the received patient's understanding informationwith predetermined correct response information about smoking, whetherthe patient has a correct patient's understanding about smoking; andwhen the patient's understanding about smoking is incorrect, present, ata patient-side electronic device, cognitive-behavioral therapyinformation based on the predetermined correct response information.